Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1887-12-09
what the South has Done.

~ mai eHe SOuTH mas DOne.
B. B. Ward, of Winona, Miss, writes as
follows ia the Jackson Miss Clarion in an.
swer to 40 article in the Century Magazine
The South has been the land of ''enter
prises of great pith and moment" rather
than the nursery Of scribblers. She has
made history for others to write and sell.
For more than 100 gears the grand march
of the American intellect has been projected
from Southern brains.
THE fine moral and intellectual organiza-
ton of Southern children has heretofore
been largely due to the fact that their moth
e:s were exempt from the hardships of phys.
ical drudgery and the depressing effects of
impending want.
"a Southern man led the patriotic armies
to victory and established the possibilities
of the proudest nation On the earth. A
Southern man was prime mover of the cor
yention that framed the Constitution. When
the government vas created its organic laws
were still an unexplained book, q p0nderous
oar in uuskiled hands
ut was left for the greatest legal mind Of
the age, Southern chief justice, to analyze
and stamp upon it the construction which
will be accepted as long as the Constitution
is respected.
"a Southern man framed the ordinance
for the organization and government Of the
great Northwestern territory, an instrument
second in importance only to the Constitu-
ton of the United States.
"A Southern man was The author OF the
republican theory of popular government.
which prevailed during the sixty years of
our greatest prosperity; peace aud happi
meas. the fifteen Presidents OF the Con-
-. II ~ ;~Af o ~
States
"WHsre is there an example of.lnodern
7e"u-o.s ship thst will compare with the dar-
who with a single ship swept froi- ia sea seas
the commerce Of great nation ? Who was
it shat mapped the geography OF the sess
explained their secret phenomena, blazed
cut on the trackless ocean the shortest and
safest highways for the commerce OF the
world, By his "Wind and Current Chartsn
and bis Sailing Directone," saving to the
United States millions OF dollars annually
on outgoing tonnage alone? Matthew +.
Maury, Southern man to the core, and by
common consent of al! nations accorded
the proud title Of philosopher of the
Seas"
"Where is tncro parallel To Audubon,
the naturalist and crnitho!osist OF the
world ? Chloroform, that has robbed the
surgeons knife of ali its terro:s, was first
applied by 9 Southern physician.
The two greatest eras in surgery for the
last TWO centuries, in fact two of the great
est in surgical history, were marked by two
Southern physicians, Ephram Mcdowell, of
Kentucky, end j. Marion Sims, of Alabama.
Ir their respective branches the surgery
of the whole enlightened world recognizes
| and follows the leadership OF these famous
men.
Ben Hill was the only man in America
who ever MADE 81 100000 as the direct pro-
duct of bis brair independent of investment
or speculation; in addition TO which he
| gave fifteen Of his best years 20 active public
! service.
The only approximation 10 bis record
was that Of another Southern LAWYER, Ju-
dah ?. Benjamin, who went 10 Engiand
after tha meridian CT life and became the
leading jurist in that land of great law
From 1889 to 1878, period Of sixty -four
wears, embracing eleven administrations
the slave States furnished eight Presidents,
whose terms of service covered 6fty-two
wears. During the same time the free states
| furnished three Presidents, whose combined
terms covered twelve years.
"Of the twelve Vice Presidents four were
from slave States.
"Uuder these eleven administrations the
slave States supplied fourteen Secretaries OF
State, eleven Secretaries of War, six Secre-
taries of the Treasury, nine Secretaries OF
the Navy and eight Postmaster Generals.
"Of fifty FIVE Presidents pro TEN. OF the
Senate thirty-nine were from slave States.
"Of thirty one Speakers OF the House
twenty-five were from slave States.
"Offy Chief Justices, two, and the only
two of great eminence, were from slave
States.
"Of twenty mine Associate Justices seven
teen were from slave States.
"Of twenty mine Attorney Generals four
teen were from slave States.
"Of1S5 public ministers to foreign coun-
tries, ninety-nne were from slave States
Without going further into exhaustive de-
tails for which material is abundant, We
affirm, without fear of decent denial, thai
along the lines Of these fifty-two years are
ranged all the broad and lofty conception;
of craftsmanship, all the bold and fruitful
enterprises, all the grand and comprehen
siye achievements from which have evolved
the pride. the power and the glory of the
American people,"